Summary Box: Job openings rise sharply
Summary Box: Hiring on the rise as job openings increase to highest level in a year
HIRING ON RISE: Job openings rose by 190,000, or 7.6 percent, to 2.7 million in January, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That's the most since February 2009 and evidence that employers are ramping up hiring.
STILL FAR TO GO: About 5.5 unemployed people, on average, are vying for each job opening, down from more than 6 in December. But that's still far above the 1.7 unemployed people per opening in December 2007, when the recession began.
GRADUAL IMPROVEMENT: Many economists forecast that hiring gains will be gradual this year and won't reduce the unemployment rate very much.
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